


Still do

by cloudedhue



Series: Destiny OC Guardians - Neri, Exar-3 and Delmi [4]
Category: Destiny (Video Games)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Unhappy Ending, Unrequired Love, mixed canon with oc stuff and bananas to make you this smoothie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-26
Updated: 2019-10-26
Packaged: 2021-01-03 10:54:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,056
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21178238
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cloudedhue/pseuds/cloudedhue
Summary: Delmi searches her past in Luna, even if it's forbidden by the Vanguard, but ends up remembering the part of her past she would prefer to forget.





	Still do

"You are... selective in your journey."

"No, I just don't give a damn about you anymore."

"You seek your past, yet you also bury it."

"No. I only buried you."

Trinity looked worried at his Guardian conversating with the phantom. He tried to told her to ignore it, that nothing good would come of paying any attention to it, that they would find a way to get rid of it. Unfortunately, not only they had not found a way yet, but also Delmi had succumbed to the whispers, unable to keep ignoring them.

They first saw the phantom when they came back to Luna, after Zavala's distress signal. The Earth's moon was... infested with them, to put it plainly. Every dead Guardian from The Great Disaster was guaranteed to be here, which proved to be a higher number than Delmi had anticipated. But there was one among them that should not be here. He didn't die in Luna, he died Dwindler's Ridge as a twisted man, not a Guardian.

"You swore your loyalty to me, to my cause, yet turned your back on me."

Delmi's patience was long gone. Her thoughts dispersed, yet her anger boiling alive, unable to be contained. Sadly, she already learned that the phantom could not be punched.

"I swore loyalty to the Titan Rezyl Azzir, but he has been gone for a long time now. You would never compare to him."

She spat the words with hate within them and turned around to keep searching through the lunar cave- Trinity confirmed to her that this was the place where he resurrected her for the first time, so surely there should be-

"Do you still love him?"

Her breath got stuck in her lungs, she coughed, and tears stung her eyes. She expected to have heard the phantom's whispers once again, but it was Trinity who asked the question.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have- it wasn't my- I mean, I didn't... I'm sorry."

It has been a while since Delmi thought about Rezyl. She remembered the day she met him at that camp that would be known shortly after as The Last City. He was a natural leader- watching him break the Faction Wars and repel the Fallen that threatened the survivors, Delmi was immediately star-struck. Her heart was filled with pride every time he acknowledged her actions, he chose her for his fireteam, he said her name and looked her in the eyes.

She knew it was love right away. He was aware of her feelings as well- he always accused her of being too transparent; she always thought Rezyl was really good at reading people. They were probably both right. But they were Guardians, their survival was constantly on the line, even after years after the Walls were built and The Last City was slowly growing stronger, a relationship would have been ridiculous.

Delmi, however, was just happy to be near him. Rezyl was an exceptional man in every possible meaning of the word. His tactics were efficient; he was deadly yet kind, always looking out for others, always the first to rise for the call of duty. She swore that, whenever Rezyl went, she would go as well; he dismissed the words, his status as "hero" had always been something he never truly knew how to deal with.

He cared. He worried. But he did it all too much- and the Darkness took advantage of that. Delmi would never forget his expression, the day Rezyl returned from Luna. Nothing from his exterior betrayed his "I'm fine, everything is fine" responses, but she could see something different in his eyes. The man that had gone there was not the same one that came back.

She was aware of the nightmares haunting him, though Delmi didn't approve of him going alone to Luna in search of answers, she knew there was no stopping him. She wishes she had tried to stop him. The man that was once known as Rezyl Azzir didn't exist anymore, the figure standing in front had explained to her, there was only one that will be known as Dredgen Yor. Rezyl was never one to joke about serious stuff, he barely even joked at all, so Delmi understood right away this was no prank. She could feel the danger he represented, but not only that, she felt the barrel of his gun touch her temple. Though the barrel was as cold as ice, her skin burned at the touch, making her flinch, but her eyes never left his- they look darker, sinister: dangerous.

This man, now a stranger to her, declared his lack of faith in the Guardian's cause. Everything he had helped to build and protect now was nothing but a cynical joke, and he had come to the conclusion that there was no salvation, no peace- so he had to create his own. For a split second, Delmi really believed she would die right there, by his hand. She could only laugh at the irony that the man that would kill her would be the one that once made her feel the most alive.

However, nothing happened. In his eyes, Delmi saw a moment of recognition, a tiny spark that quickly vanished, before the gun left her temple. Without another word, the man turned around and left, never to be seen again by her.

_What happened to Rezyl? What was that gun? Where is he going? Why is his Ghost not with him? What happened in Luna? Who is Dredgen Yor?_ And most importantly, _what was going to happen now?_

Unfortunately, she got her answer way too quickly. While she had spoken with the group of Risen that she and Rezyl used to team up with, nobody else had seen him- not Rezyl, nor Dredgen Yor. Until one day, Crucible matches were suspended as a Guardian had killed another one: Thalor was dead, killed by the man named Dredgen Yor. Chaos ensued while every armed Guardian in The Last City went to look for him. Delmi had met Thalor a couple of times before- he was an incredible fighter and loved to demonstrate it on Crucible matches all day. To think he was dead and that it had happened right under their noses- it made her sick. It made her want to scream.

So then, Delmi decided to join the hunt. She left the protection of the City to venture into the wilds, there the news did not travel as fast, so it was only until much later that she knew someone else had fallen by Dredgen Yor's hand- her best friend, Pahanin. She had met Pahanin a time long ago; encountered him in the wild when the raid attempt to the Vault of Glass had failed, and he seemed to be the only survivor, so Delmi kept him company for some months. He told her the most fascinating stories and shared his love for cephalopods, which were quite impressive creatures. Pahanin was the kindest being she had ever met, a splendid craftsman, and a broken soul. To think he would meet such a violent end after everything- it shattered Delmi's heart.

Wiping her tears, letting anger be her drive to keep hunting, she continued. Delmi had no idea how much time she traveled, how many survivors she helped, how many enemies she killed, all until one word was spoken to her: Palamon. She set route to the location only to find complete wreckage instead of the tiny settlement hidden in the woods she had heard about. The remains were still burning, corpses of the once habitants were shown in a gruesome display. Was this _his_ doing?

_I should have killed him when I could._

Following a small trail of footsteps, Delmi hurried to continue, deep in the forest. He was close, she knew it well. She could feel the sickness in the air, the corruption.

_I could have stopped this._

A group, up ahead.

_This is my fault._

A _kid_ and a group of Guardians that all raised their guns the moment she came into view. She lowered her hand cannon, asking if they had seen what happened to the village, if they knew about Dredgen Yor and, if so, where he was. The group understood her quest and invited her to join them- facing _him_ was no easy task, and it was better to have the highest number possible of guns pointing at him.

Jaren Ward was their leader. He easily stood out from the rest, and his character even leads Delmi to believe he was speaking to the old Rezyl again- he was confident, purposeful, a natural-born leader too. Though everyone in the group had been wronged by Dredgen Yor, he was the power that kept them together through thick and thin.  
Regrettably, it was the Lights that shone the brightest that Dredgen Yor looked for to consume. In the middle of the night, the group woke up after hearing a shootout echoing through the forest. It was The Last Word and... something else. Something that didn't sound right.

"Dredgen Yor." Someone from the group whispered Delmi wasn't sure who as her heart was beating ten times the normal. _He's here. He's near. Jaren..._

_He sacrificed himself for us._

_No, no, no, not another one, not more. Please._

But nobody could move. Yor's gun was the last sound they heard, and everything was silent after that. They all knew he was still near, but did they have a chance without Jaren? The kid, Shin, reproached them for what felt like hours, and he was right. They were all cowards. Jaren got himself killed to not put them in danger, and they couldn't do the same for him.

They left by midday. Shin insisted in staying behind- either still hoping Jaren would be alive or wished his death would come soon. Delmi wasn't sure which one was right but knew she didn't want to think about it. How could she return to the City like this? Feeling ashamed- broken. Could Delmi still call herself a Guardian after this?

So she decided not to return to The Last City. She wandered in the wilds, part of her looking for more survivors, the other part still looking for that twisted man. She had nightmares about his presence, about him killing her, about him going back to the Tower and murdering every single one of the Guardians until it was only her- alone, helpless.

She wasn't sure how many years have passed since Jaren's death, but she got a glimpse of a man that immediately reminded her about him. He was tall but looked too young to be him- however, his posture, movement, and mannerism certainly could have fooled her. Delmi was about to brush him away until she saw Jaren's Ghost with him, and in that second, she understood it was Shin whom she was looking at. _He survived._

Delmi was still away from him, so she couldn't hear what Shin said to the Ghost, but suddenly he started to run. Was he sensing danger? Did he notice her? Without a second thought, she followed him, she followed him until she knew where they were heading. Until she saw _him_. The man she's been hunting for years. The man that has been haunting her for years.

Again, the fear took her prisoner. She could only watch while Yor talked to Shin, provoking him. In the blink of an eye, Delmi could barely process the motion, Shin took Jaren's gun- his gun and engulfed it in flames. The power of the Light that radiated from him was blinding, but she could not stop staring. Two shots later, everything ended. With one last look at the twisted being's corpse and a single shot next, the deed was completed. Shin left.

_"Yours, not mine."_

It was done. It was over. There was only the shadow of a nightmare there, defeated by the Light. Years of searching for him, being tormented by him were over. All the hatred she had cultivated for him, the loss she had suffered, it was ending here, at this ridge.

And in spite of it all.

Delmi stared at Trinity, now back in the lunar cave, and ignored the phantom chasing her. That wasn't him. Dredgen Yor wasn't Rezyl.

"Yeah. Yeah, I still do." 


End file.
